Madden NFL Designers Podcast #3

[tlc12576]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ian_Cummings_EA

Some responses / questions... - WE CAN'T TALK ABOUT SPECIFIC FEATURES FOR MADDEN 12. You hopefully know that by now. Quotes like "Taken together, however, I see them very carefully attempting to set expectations." are just wrong. IT IS DECEMBER, WE HAVE TO BE CRYPTIC. If you are the type of guy that is going to get fired up about not enough talk about specific improvements, then I suggest you don't listen to the podcast. - Nowhere in the podcast are we saying it's going to take multiple years for you to see any improvements, or that 12 won't have any. See point above, and I can say we have been working on Franchise improvements for some time now. - "And as far as that "cant make drastic improvements in one cycle" BS....". Where did we ever say that? I 100% believe that drastic improvements can be made in one cycle. - "I guess after these podcasts, it just looks to me like Madden isn't gonna be a game I'm gonna ever like on these consoles." Does that statement seem a little ridiculous to anyone else? After a podcast that discusses ZERO REAL FEATURE ADDITIONS you aren't going to like Madden, EVER? I always hoped that this forum would eventually be a great place for feedback and ways to improve the game, not the sensationalist extremism that it can quickly descends into. - There is nothing more frustrating to me than people not actually listening to the podcast but jumping on the opinion bandwagon of another. Please guys, we are spending the time planning and recording these SPECIFICALLY for the Madden community...you could at least give us the respect of listening to it and forming an opinion of your own. Maybe we should just stop doing these for a while if too many people aren't able to cope with the lack of real information and turn that into a negative thing. That's not what we want out of these at all...we just want to give people a behind the scenes look at the development process and decision making. Thoughts?

I hope you guys will continue to do these podcasts because it shows that you guys are enganged with the community. I can understand your frustration with some posts but I think you should also understand the frustration of some posters.

I think I read somewhere you like the Dallas Cowboys. Now aside from the fact as a life long Skins fan, that makes me sick to my stomach, imagine if their games and any other Dallas Cowboys media could only be seen, exclusively, on one network. That network required $60 to watch it each football season, you felt their commentators were bad, you didn't like their network's coverage of the games and you believed overall, they could do a better job. Every year, for 6 years, you tried to give constructive critism and while somethings changed, you felt alot of what you were told would improve about the network and it's coverage of the Dallas Cowboys, didn't happen.

I think for the most part we want the same thing you and the other devs do, an annually solid NFL video game.

Also, in the podcast, you guys mentioned it was easy to add an option to hide ratings. Even without a better scouting system right now, I would love to have that option. I think in the future, any OPTIONS you guys can add, that are simple and don't take away from resources too much, is a good thing.

[BlueNGold]

Pretty sure Ian is a Giants fan, not a Cowboys fan.

[tlc12576]

Quote: Originally Posted by BlueNGold

Pretty sure Ian is a Giants fan, not a Cowboys fan.

Oh,my bad Ian but you still get my point, I hope. LOL

Sure he gets that all the time for looking like Tony Romo's doppelganger. LOL

[PhillyJim76]

What I don't get is, if Madden's dev team wants to do these podcasts, why would they stop doing them based upon negative feedback by SOME people? It just propogates the opinion that they are thin skinned and can't deal with criticism.

[RumbleCard]

ugggh I'm somewhat reluctant to give my opinion because I don't want to come across as being combative (and I do enjoy the podcasts) but I was left with the impression that the higher ups at EA have done their job here. It kind of funny...listening to the podcast I wasn't really listening to the promise of an ever evolving game that I've played year in and year out but I was more listening to guys who have jobs...just like we do. It was more shop talk than game talk.

Profit. I think I heard that angle hit on time and time again in the first few minutes of the podcast. Paraphrasing here "This is what we're doing digitally to profit" "we're taking this idea in this direction to be diverse and profit" "this is idea is gone and never coming back because it's not profitable" "remember how good HC was...we created a game with just about everything we wanted in the game but were only marginally profitable" "profit...then we can profit and finally step three profit".

I don't mean any disrespect nor am I trying to speak in absolutes but I wonder if the passion of Madden is a lost art and has been replaced with trying to build a machine or an engine so to speak that is all about profit. I guess it just reaffirmed what we already know and that's cash is king. It just seems like we're in a state where what goes in to the game good, bad, gimmicky or other isn't done so for the betterment of the actual game, or step forward but more so on the presumption that something is done because it's potentially driving profit. Or not done because the costs of change out weight potential profit. Regardless of the fact that something might make the game better.

There are games that have done things that are contrary to what might be precieved as the most diverse profitable avenue but still cash the proverbial cow on it...NBA2k rings a bell. MMA 09 was another sucess story that was contrary to what most analyst viewed as potentially successful. I'm left wanting the higher ups to care more about the game and the passion because if you do that the "profit" is likely to take care of itself. Hopefully that's not fantasy land.

Most of us aren't kids here. A lot of us work and at work, for most businesses, it's profit and nothing more. Its why 90% of us do it every day. I guess I just miss the heart of Madden.

[tlc12576]

Quote: Originally Posted by PhillyJim76

What I don't get is, if Madden's dev team wants to do these podcasts, why would they stop doing them based upon negative feedback by SOME people? It just propogates the opinion that they are thin skinned and can't deal with criticism.

I can't speak for them but if it were me, I wouldn't want to catch hell for something I'm doing voluntarily. What posters should consider, inspite of their frustration, is that these podcast are a good faith effort to show us they are listening and trying to improve the game. These podcasts are NOT EA mandated, as far as I know, so this is just them taking their time to interact with us, the gaming community.

I appreciate that effort and hope they continue to do it.

[PhillyJim76]

I got that, but in life you are never going to have 100 percent of the people on board with what you are doing. If you want to do these, do 'em! Don't worry about some people not being happy!

[khaliib]

Quote: Originally Posted by khaliib

Well it seems like Franchise is what gamers want the most. Good to Ian jumping in on the thread about comments. With that being said, Ian, when the time comes to put out information/videos about Madden 12, instead of a flood of visual upgrades, online features or new casual gamer injections, would you guys go deeper into what the Dynasty will offer? Also, what we're finding on the NCAA side is that gamers are very smart and are finding things to enhance gameplay through their extensive testing. With staff being limited, why not allow gamers the ability to test an open editor on the current Madden? This way you can get direct gamer feedback on thresholds and boundaries within the game if given access. With so many complaints, it allows the gamer to really have "Some" input into next years game. Ian, there is an abundant of FREE staff (gamers) here willing to man hours of tinkering and testing to help you guys provide the best football gaming experience. We're here. Let us help you beyond worded suggestions noted on gaming forums. Did I mention it wouldn't be cost to EA. That's FREE workers. From a business point of view, it gets no better than that. Free Labor!!! Oh well, I can only offer an alternative to customer complaining (some are true), but many times s good idea simply falls to the wayside. I'll be renting 1st as I've done since '07. Unfortunately, I have yet to invest $60 in a Madden since '06.

I guess what frustrates me, is that those posts that push Dev's buttons seem to be the one's they reply to.

I posted this earlier in the thread as an alternative to notating what my dislikes are.

So I'll give this another try and see if a response might come from you guys.